REO Speedwagon will perform for a sold out audience Friday night at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona. / Special to the Register

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REO Speedwagon

For years, REO Speedwagon was the band that broke even. It released nine albums that just never quite caught fire, but the band didn’t lose money and through constant touring it kept picking up fans.

It wasn’t until its ninth album, “Hi Infidelity,” that things really took off. The album had six hits, including the band’s signature hit “Keep On Loving You.”

“I think since we broke even for the label, they figured they had nothing to lose and they might as well give these kids another chance,” REO Speedwagon singer Kevin Cronin said during a phone interview.

“When we were in the studio for ‘Hi Infidelity’ it felt like that was it, we were hanging on by a thread. But the record company sure made a good move sticking with us.”

“Hi Infidelity” sold more than 10 million copies.

Cronin wasn’t the first vocalist for REO Speedwagon, and his first stint with the band didn’t last especially long. He joined the band in 1972, replacing Terry Luttrell. Cronin recorded “R.E.O./T.W.O” with the group in 1972, but left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Mike Murphy. He rejoined the group in 1976 and has been performing with REO ever since.

Cronin said his initial departure was the result of poor communication and some of his own insecurity. He was used to performing on an acoustic guitar and playing in more intimate settings — performing loud rock shows on a regular basis quickly took a toll on his voice.

Cronin’s doctor told him to stop talking for three weeks and to stop singing for two months.

He worried that if he told his bandmates he couldn’t sing for three months that they would fire him. So he stopped singing at rehearsals, which caused friction.

“They thought I was being a prima donna, and things escalated from there,” Cronin said. “I wasn’t writing well, since I was so preoccupied with my health, and things needed to come to an end.”

Cronin ended up rejoining the band in 1976, in part due to fan demand.

Some fans in South Bend, Ind., circulated a petition to have Cronin reinstated. They got 15,000 signatures, which was no small feat in those pre-Internet days.

Cronin’s solo career wasn’t taking off and the other members of REO Speedwagon weren’t completely satisfied with his replacement.

That all added up to Cronin getting his old job back.

These days, REO Speedwagon’s sets are pretty much wall-to-wall hits. The fans want to hear them, and Cronin said that even after 40 years, the band still loves playing them.

“There’s nothing like walking out in front of a crowd of three or 10 or 15,000 people and starting the first couple chords of ‘Time to Fly’ and seeing the crowd up on their feet before we even start singing,” Cronin said. “When I see people holding up lighters — or cellphones with pictures of lighters on them — that interaction, even though I’ve been singing these songs for 40 years, still makes me feel like I can sing those songs a little better.

“That audience gives me an inner fire and the feeling I have something to prove, something to reach for.”